This page will eventually contain more information about the Shiki Theater musical production Ri Koran Musical based on Li Xianglan's life in China. The book of the play was written by Keita Asari, the founder of Shiki Theater in 1953, who was born in 1933 and passed away in 2018. He wrote a trilogy of plays: Ri Koran, Foreign Hills, and Southern Cross, all concerned with Japan's war-time history and the subject of militarism. Here they are from top to bottom, Ri Koran, Foreign Hills, and Southern Cross:
Here is a good introduction to the trilogy, by former BBC Tokyo correspondent David Powers:
Here is the Synopsis of the Ri Koran play as it was published in one of the keepsake programs:
here is perhaps a more readable Synopsis:
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Below is an article written about Reiko Nomura, Yamaguchi, and Fujiwara Sakuya:
Entertainment 2013.09.17 07:00
by Josei Seven
Li Xianglan was initially cautious about the stage adaptation due to concerns that it would be too much of a glorification of the Manchu Empire.
The Shiki Theatre Company will pass on the Showa era and the war to future generations - one of the Showa era history trilogy, "Musical Li Xianglan," will be performed for the first time in four years (running until September 29th at the Shiki Theatre [Autumn 2013] in Tokyo). 22 years have passed since the premiere, and the number of performances has exceeded 800. We spoke to the lead actress, Reiko Nomura, who is highly regarded by fans as "Li Xianglan herself," just before the performance.
The Musical Li Xianglan has been performed for 22 years since its premiere in 1991. She has played the turbulent life of Yamaguchi Yoshiko, the protagonist of the story, from her early childhood, to her days as the Chinese actress Li Xianglan, and up until the time she confessed that she was Japanese. She wishes for peace, suffers, and sheds tears. She is frightened by conflict and hatred to the point of her hair standing on end. She sings seductively in beautiful Chinese. Her whole-hearted performance has earned her praise, with people saying she is "just like the real thing" and "more like Li Xianglan than Li Xianglan."
"After 22 years of acting, the lines come out automatically without me even thinking about it, but as Shiki's motto goes, 'If you get used to the stage and your acting becomes stale and you start to lose it, you are not fit to be on Shiki's stage,' that shouldn't happen. I always read the script with a fresh mind and start over with the work of writing the score." (Nomura)
For example, the phrase "Love China, love Japan." It's in our bodies, but do we really feel what it means to love, and do we really understand the differences between the countries of China and Japan?
Every day, she arrives at the theater at 8:30 a.m. While she handles the company's duties and trains her juniors, she also spends five or six hours alone in the rehearsal hall, working on Li Xianglan.
"The intense scene at the beginning. We've done that scene hundreds of times, so we have to be careful not to get caught up in the flow." (Nomura)
It would be easy to do it casually, following the procedure, but that's no good. Li Xianglan needs to be genuinely surprised and overwhelmed.
"We are at the mercy of everyone's criticism and intense negative energy. We have to feel something new." (Nomura)
Some critics have said that "Nomura Reiko changes the blood for each work."
"That's what I intended (laughs). The characters I played in the past are like my own children. I have to let them go when the play is over, but they live somewhere inside me. Asako from 'Rokumeikan', who I was facing until recently, has left, and now Ri Koran has come, and I am reunited with my beloved child." (Nomura)
"At first, Yamaguchi Yoshiko was cautious about adapting it for the stage," reveals Fujiwara Sakuya, co-author (with Yamaguchi) of the original book "Li Xianglan: My Half-Life."
"She said she didn't want it to become Viva Manchuria (a tribute to the Manchurian Empire). When I received an invitation from the Shiki Theatre Company to come and watch a full rehearsal, Yamaguchi-san told me, 'You go,' perhaps because she was afraid of the final product." (Fujiwara)
However, those fears turned out to be unfounded. The story begins with a scene in which Li Xianglan is being reprimanded and tried by a crowd yelling, "Kill her, kill her!"
"I was surprised right from the introduction. It started with an implication that history would be put on trial. It doesn't glorify Manchuria or Li Xianglan, and it doesn't justify Japan. It depicts the war as it is. So I called Yamaguchi-san right after rehearsals finished and told her everything would be fine. But even so, Yamaguchi-san herself was very surprised and moved when she saw it for the first time at the theater." (Fujiwara)
Since then, Nomura and Yamaguchi have become closer friends.
"Yamaguchi-san seemed to have a strong belief that Manchukuo could become a bridge of peace between China and Japan. She said, 'I truly believed it, but I didn't know it.'" (Nomura)
That single-minded purity is reflected in Nomura on stage.
"Because Li Xianglan is such an incredible person, I researched a lot of things to make sure that people who have that image of her would be able to understand her image. Above all, those captivating eyes. How could I express those captivating eyes that don't let go once they've captured my eye? Before applying makeup, I stuck a bunch of bromides on [my] face, and consulted with the hairdresser to create the look." (Nomura)
※Josei Seven September 26, 2013 issue
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